a quiet corner on the info superhighway for the rantings and ruminations of a geezer bemused by modern society. political correctness is left at the curb.
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.
Robert A. Heinlein "

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

what to do with that hambone in the freezer

so, you had a big ham for easter dinner, and stuck the bone and the scraps in the freezer. you hoped someone would come along and rescue you by trotting out a great bean soup recipe. never fear, bothenook is here!

ingredients

1 bag of small white or navy beans

1 onion chopped

2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 stalks of celery, diced

3 carrots, shredded

salt to taste

pepper to taste

a couple of shakes of your favorite season salt or season mix. there are more than i can count, but some of the ones i like to use are Mrs. Dash season mix, or any cajun seasoning mix. use sparingly

2 bay leaves

ham bone and scraps, or a smoked hamhock, available from most supermarkets

process:take the ham bone, or hamhock, and toss it into water in a big pot. add the bay leaves, and bring to a boil. turn down to a simmer, and cook for an hour or so. longer if you forget to look at the clock like i did. a couple of hours didn't hurt this at all. as a matter of fact, it helped cook out the gelatin from the marrow, and gave the soup a velvety consistency that i really liked.

beans: there are two ways to go about these little gems. actually three, if you buy canned beans instead of dried. but you wouldn't do that, now would you? even if you were in a relative hurry, and wanted to get with the program? i thought not. so how do you get the beans ready to make a wonderful soup? first, pick them over and make sure there are no little stones or dirt in them. very important. we don't want to be visiting the dentist for a new crown, now do we? didn't think so. so once they are cleaned, you can go two ways from here.process one: let beans soak overnight, covered with water. the next day, discard the liquid and rinse the beans.process two: cover the beans with water, and bring to a boil. turn off the heat, and let them soak for about an hour and a half, and then drain.both of these work well for bean soup. i used the second method.

stock: allow the liquid you cooked the bone and scraps in to cool a little, then pull out the bone with a pair of tongs. shred the remaining meat off of the bone. chop up any of the scraps to bitty pieces. i usually strain the liquid i cooked the hambone in into a big soup pot. i then add the beans, and get them on the fire, bringing it to a boil. once it's boiling, turn down the heat to a simmer. while the beans are hanging out in the stock, i prep the carrots, onion, garlic, and celery, and toss into the pot, along with all of the shredded ham.this is what it looks like at the beginning of the cooking process

see all of the veggies? well, they cook down pretty well after the soup has been simmering covered for a couple of hours. the whole house smells like heaven while this soup bubbles on the stove.after about 2 hours of simmering, the soup should be ready. i know i was more than ready to taste it after smelling it cook. here is what the cooked soup will look like

where i grew up, there were three things required for this to be a meal. the first was cornbread. the second and third were condiments

the great thing about ham is that after the big feast, you can still do a number of things with the leftovers. those dishes are standalone, and can't be classified as leftovers. i can think of enough different ways to make dishes with ham that i go weeks in a row without getting tired of ham, because the variety of things you can do with it is so great. another great use of leftover ham is ham and potato gratin. mmmmm.

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About Me

about me. well:
i am a US Navy submarine veteran.
i work at a research reactor for a california university.
i met and married my second (and last) wife after growing up.
my waist line is now 10 inches longer than my inseam. that sux, but then, i've enjoyed every calorie.
i drink my coffee black.
i am an NRA Life Member.
i am the most liberal right wing radical republican i know. new favorite quote of the day: ""We have four boxes used to guarantee our liberty: The soap box, the ballot box, the jury box and the cartridge box". -- Ambrose Bierce (1887)"